Tang Tian glanced at Davis, smiled, and said nothing.

Davis had participated in the Hard Knocks Brothers training camp for several years in a row, so he was naturally familiar with Walker.

And, just as he said, as a small player, wildly scoring and leading the team to take the first game despite being completely unregarded, this scene was very similar to Iverson in the 2001 Finals.

It was just that playing together might be difficult. The Pelicans' lineup was stable and could maintain championship strength for three to five years, so there was no need to change.

However, the future was unpredictable. No one knew what would happen tomorrow. It was better to be safe than sorry.

With the Pelicans and Thunder game imminent, Stevens also reiterated the game plan in the locker room.

In the past two days, Tang Tian suggested to Stevens his idea of reducing ball-handling to allow teammates to adjust their form, and the two hit it off.

They had been training around this for the past two days.

Fortunately, they had played this way two years ago, so they adapted quickly.

Moreover, it was obvious that after having the ball, the teammates' condition had improved a lot.

Especially Jokic, who was able to display his organizational advantage, his confidence increased a lot, and his shooting percentage during full-court confrontation improved.

All these signs indicated that the decision of Tang Tian and Stevens was correct.

That night, the Pelicans and Thunder game opened at the New Orleans Arena, and the Pelicans ushered in the opening game of their season's playoffs.

The arena was packed, and fans held up signs with "Defending Champions" and "Second Championship."

In recent years, the New Orleans basketball market had developed rapidly, and because Tang Tian's attitude towards fans was exceptionally good, it gave fans a great deal of loyalty to the team.

Even if it was just the first round opening game, the fans' enthusiasm was extremely high.

Before the game started, the players from both sides entered the arena one after another.

The Pelicans players' expressions were relaxed, while the Thunder's expressions were serious.

This seemed to be consistent with the pre-match performance of both sides.

The Pelicans' pre-match training was open to the public, while the Thunder had been in closed training since arriving in New Orleans.

During the pre-game warm-up, Westbrook didn't greet Tang Tian as he did during the regular season.

It could be seen that although there was a gap in strength, the Thunder would not easily admit defeat.

Moreover, the Hornets had just completed an upset with Walker's own strength, which gave them a lot of encouragement.

If the Hornets could do it, they would have a chance to do the same.

After the opening ceremony, the starting players of the two teams took the stage one after another.

The Pelicans' side was still the regular starting five, but the Thunder's lineup had been adjusted compared to the regular season.

At the power forward position, rookie Sabonis was replaced by Jerami Grant, a third-year player who was better at defense.

There was no news of this before the game. It seemed to be a surprise move by Thunder coach Donovan.

The lineups of both sides had changed, but the home photographers were still as mischievous as before, giving a split-screen shot of Tang Tian and Westbrook before the game started.

Two major protagonists, two triple-double kings.

This behavior fully aroused the emotions of the home fans, and the fans on the hotline began a new round of true and false debates.

In the cheers of the fans, Adams dialed the ball back to the Thunder's half, officially kicking off the playoff curtain.

Westbrook dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and looked up to see that the person defending him was Tang Tian.

During the regular season, Tang Tian only defended in the fourth quarter, but in the playoffs, he defended in the first quarter. This change also reflected the difference between the playoffs and the regular season.

Returning to early 21st-century basketball, if the regular season was described as a head-to-head match, then the playoffs were a real bare-knuckle brawl.

Everything about both sides was exposed in front of each other, without reservation, and the targeting would be put on the table without concealment.

Westbrook didn't force an attack, but passed the ball to Oladipo.

Oladipo changed direction to break through Holiday, broke into the inside and encountered a help defense, and passed the ball to Grant at the bottom corner. Grant's three-pointer missed.

Donovan used Grant to replace Sabonis, the Thunder's defense was strengthened, but their already weak outside threat became even weaker than before.

Fortunately, their retreat speed was fast enough.

Donovan was also shouting on the sidelines to remind the defensive position. It seemed that the Thunder were preparing to fight the Pelicans with defense in this game, and play defensive counterattacks.

To win against the Pelicans, you have to try to play to your strengths as much as possible. There was absolutely no problem with this approach.

Tang Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, but his next move stunned Donovan on the sidelines.

Tang Tian neither attacked with the ball nor called for a pick-and-roll, but directly passed the ball to Jokic at the high post.

This was not quite the same as he expected!

The Thunder players on the court were also stunned for a while. It was just this moment that Tang Tian cut into the inside and scored a layup after receiving a pass from Jokic.

The Pelicans took the lead.

"Stay with him! Stay with him!"

Donovan shouted on the sidelines after he came back to his senses.

The Pelicans let Jokic hold the ball, but in the end it was Tang Tian who finished the attack. This was a feint!

He and his players had been fooled!

The Thunder failed to defend the Pelicans' offense, and the defensive counterattack didn't start, so they had to go to the frontcourt to switch to position offense.

Oladipo continued to break through with the ball. This time, he didn't pass to Grant again, but instead did a mid-air pull-up layup himself.

However, Davis's help defense was in place, and his shot was interfered with and missed again.

The Thunder failed to score in the first two rounds!

Donovan's lineup adjustment didn't seem to be very good. Grant had no range, but instead allowed the Pelicans to shrink their defense at will!

Jokic protected the defensive rebound, and the Thunder continued to retreat quickly.

Tang Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and continued to pass the ball to Jokic.

Donovan's attention was all on Tang Tian, and he was also shouting on the sidelines to let Roberson pay attention to Tang Tian's cut.

But at this moment, Davis suddenly cut to the basket and scored with a two-handed dunk after receiving a pass from Jokic!

4 to 0!

The Pelicans played very differently from the regular season at the start, and they scored both times!

Donovan frowned slightly on the sidelines, and found that things were not that simple.

The Pelicans had completely changed their style of play!

His discovery was a bit late, not because he wasn't sensitive enough, but because it was too incredible.

Tang Tian's triple-double average this season was achieved under his high ball-handling. Now the Pelicans were suddenly changing their style of play in the playoffs!

No one would believe it if he said it!

This was equivalent to saying that the Pelicans had suddenly abandoned the style of play they had played for a season!

But this was not reasonable!

The Pelicans were obviously stronger, so there was no need to take the risk of doing this!

Donovan didn't understand, but the Pelicans still had Jokic holding the ball to coordinate in the frontcourt, so he was sure that his judgment was correct.

He even thought of a possibility.

The Pelicans seemed to be… using them to practice tactics?